Newport Beach Yacht Seized With Epic Haul Of Weed

In his breakthrough novel The Death and Life of Bobby Z, author Don Winslow wrote about a homeless acid casualty from the 1960s nicknamed "One Way," who wandered up and down the Orange County coastline talking to nobody in particular. One Way's favorite conversational topic: the imminent arrival of a yacht full of Thai stick weed helmed by the long-missing Bobby Z, a legendary hippie pot smuggler.

Without giving away the book's plot, am I the only one wondering if it was Bobby Z who was behind the activities that took place in Newport Harbor at around 1 a.m. today when law enforcement authorities spotted a suspicious looking vessel cruising to the docks?

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, agents who were part of a 45-foot response boat that was on routine patrol last night spotted the sailboat as it attempted to enter the harbor. " As the crew approached the sailboat, the pilot reportedly veered to the right and ran the sailboat onto the beach," the Coast Guard's press release states. "Two people reportedly jumped from the sailboat and ran away. Coast Guard crewmembers docked their boat and made their way to the beached vessel where they reportedly discovered approximately 80 to 90 bales of marijuana."

Investigators with the multi-agency Los Angeles Border Enforcement Security Taskforce (LA BEST) task force are working the case, hoping to learn the identity of the smugglers. But given the size of the haul (epic) as well as the location of the boat (sailing distance from Mexico, not to mention the name of the task force, it's safe to assume the yacht wasn't coming from Eureka. Adios a la mota y hasta luego, cabrones!

Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is managing editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).